


Meanwhile, on Lord Dirae's ship...

by captainmazzic (lordtarantula)



Series: The Sith Tribunal AU [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: A lot of talking, Fluff, Gen, M/M, nothing actually happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:09:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16382801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordtarantula/pseuds/captainmazzic
Summary: While Adrestin, Sivin, and company prepare to leave Niam's homeworld, Darth Dirae and Darth Tarandus have taken their ship into a low orbit and they prepare for their own departure.Takes place concurrently with Chapter 40 of Opening Dialogue.





	Meanwhile, on Lord Dirae's ship...

**Author's Note:**

> I felt a brief interlude explaining what's happening with Dirae, Zarinne, Tarandus, and Graz was in order. But including it in the main story seemed to break the flow of things, so I figured a little one-shot side story would do the trick.

“Lord Dirae? Could I have a word?”

She inclined her head to Tarandus. “Of course. Jedi Zarinne, please make yourself at home. You are welcome anywhere on the ship that is not locked. Such locks are for your protection, and for my brother’s as well.” When she received a nod from the Jedi she stepped down into the cockpit and sat in the copilot’s seat beside Tarandus. “Yes?”

His gaze flicked briefly back to the rest of the ship. “You are certain this is wise, having a Jedi aboard.”

Dirae’s milky gaze grew weary, and she passed one slender hand over her face. “No, I am not. But it is about as wise as having my own brother aboard, and he is, after all, the locus of this excursion. A locus for both of us, as you have so recently informed me.”

He flinched. “Apologies, my Lord. There was… no proper time or place for the discussion.”

“You should have made the time, Tarandus.”

He couldn’t meet her stare. “It was sudden, and unexpected. I did not intend –”

She cut him off with a swift motion of her hand. “What you did or did not intend has little bearing, _Lord_ Tarandus. My family is complicated enough, and you have complicated things even further.”

“…Apologies.”

She sighed. “And yet… if things are truly as you say, you may be the only one who can mediate between us. And I admire your apparent devotion to your new commitment. It was wise and prudent of you to relinquish your seat on the Tribunal.”

He shook his head. “You needn’t mince words. I know you believed that I never merited my position.”

“No, you did not. You have neither the fortitude nor the presence in the Force necessary to maintain such a powerful and influential role within a fledgling governance.” She crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. “It is my belief and that of the majority of the Tribunal that Vialis’s insistence upon your appointment was inappropriate and overreaching. We should not have acquiesced to him and given you the offer, and you should never have accepted.”

He inclined his horned head, sighing. “I know. I accept the criticism. But what is done is done. My brother is… difficult to turn down, Lord Dirae. My desire not to disappoint him overran all other goals. In these few recent years, I believe I have finally grown the courage to stand up to him and decide fully my own course. I can only hope that my place on the Tribunal did not cause any setbacks in their goals.”

Her gaze softened. “I do understand having difficult family, Tarandus. And you have done an admirable job, with what service you have been able to offer. That much is appreciated.” She tilted her head, tendrils floating slowly in the air with her movement. “May I ask what inspired the break with your brother’s will?”

Tarandus flashed a tiny smile. _“He_ did, in a roundabout way. Unwittingly, of course, but he certainly showed me that one’s fate and one’s place is not always what it appears.”

“Oh?”

The smile grew a fraction wider. “His little Jedi, Syr-Dae. When he came into Vialis’s possession, I did not believe he would last a week. I thought he was there merely for amusement until my brother’s whims had him eliminated. But… Unexpectedly, probably to everyone involved, a spark grew between them. I have never known my brother to be terribly tender, Lord Dirae. He has never been cruel, per se, but certainly not kind. Syr-Dae seemed to find something deep within my brother that no one has ever drawn out before, and it has only grown and blossomed since.”

Dirae raised an eyebrow, and Tarandus shrugged. “It is certainly not the Light Side of the Force, before you inquire. You know Vialis better than that. That it is love is almost a given, but he has loved before. I just never expected him to fall for a Jedi, of all people. Much less such a meek and timid one. He has always valued strength, power, and presence over anything else, so it amazes not only me, but everyone else around him.”

“And this inspired you. How?”

“Heh.” He turned his eyes up to the viewport, watching the stars drift by as they slowly orbited Niam’s homeworld. “It gave me pause, to think that such a small thing could change such a big part of my brother. I have no doubt that if he had not found Syr-Dae, he would have been significantly less likely to encourage Lord Belus to keep his own little Jedi. What was his name… Domthus?”

She inclined her head in affirmation. “Indeed. And the thought of such small things changing someone who is normally so set in their ways was inspiring.”

“After a fashion, though it took time for me to see it as such. Time, and a certain incident I’m hesitant to bring up, but you deserve a better explanation than the one I gave in my reports. It was well after Vialis’s heart warmed to Syr-Dae that I was called away to deal with a certain invasion of an ancient archaeological site on Thirion Wol.”

Dirae let out a sigh as her gaze wandered towards the back of the ship. “Yes, as I know. Graz has a habit of finding the worst possible sites to wreak his havoc.”

“There are some… events that I did not include in my report.”

She turned back to him sharply. “I suspected as much. To leave such things out of a report is one thing, Tarandus, but to keep them from me when they involve my family? _Unwise.”_

He flinched. “I know. And I must also apologize for that.”

“ _Tell me.”_

He sighed and let his head thump against the back of the seat. “…As my team and I were confronting Graz, there was a cave-in. The rest of my party was buried in the rocks, all killed. Graz was injured. We found ourselves cut off from the only known exit to the caverns, and our only other chance of escape being kilometers of unexplored tunnels far beneath the surface. At first I thought the collapse had been because of your brother, but it was evident almost immediately that it was natural. Attempting to move the rubble with the Force proved… unstable, at best. I had no other recourse than to tend to your brother’s injuries and attempt to brainstorm an exploration route in hopes of finding another way out.”

Dirae raised a thin eyebrow. “All of this is in the report, Tarandus.”

“I know. But I truncated the account of the time we spent in the caves.”

“Tell me, Tarandus.”

“Yes, my Lord.” He took a slow breath and focused out on the stars, letting his memory pull him back to Thirion Wol. “From the several encounters that I have had with your brother before this one, I knew he was… difficult and unstable at best, and downright volatile at worst. He was unconscious when I pulled him from the rocks so I restrained his tendrils and neutralized his needles immediately, as you had shown me how to do, then focused on healing his injuries. Healing through the Force is not a great strength of mine, so it was slow going. He awoke part of the way through, and put up quite a struggle when he realized he was without his natural weapons. It was difficult for me to restrain him without injuring him further, and I cannot say I was successful. You know I have a short fuse. I grew angry, and I hurt him.”

Dirae’s eyes narrowed, but she gestured with a slender hand for him to continue.

“I frightened him as well. I do not know if it was because of my presence in the Force or simply a combination of the darkness of the tunnels and the immediate threat I posed, but he cowed. I had never seen him intimidated into being cooperative before, not when he is in a state of instability.”

Dirae other eyebrow rose to match the first. “You are intimidating to those less powerful than you, Tarandus. This should not surprise you.”

“It does not, but it having an effect on your brother _did._ You know that he does not often respond to Sith the way one would expect.”

She nodded, conceding the point. “This is true. Continue.”

“I had to bind him to keep him quiet and controllable, which seemed to work for the first few kilometers through the caverns.”

“I can already assume that did not last long.”

He gave her a faint smile and shook his head. “No, it did not. He has an uncanny knack for escaping his bonds. Among other things.”

“Other things?”

“Yes, I will explain, but shortly.” Tarandus sighed. “As you know, my strengths are focused much more on combat and hit quad tactics than on things such as connecting with the presence and biorhythms of worlds in the Force. So needless to say, my sense of direction quickly became rather useless in the long dark of the tunnels. After your brother broke free several times and after pursuing and restraining him each time, I had long since forgotten from which way I had come. Not that it would have mattered, in unexplored caves. I grew even angrier, and my aggression finally grew to the point that it must have terrified Graz. He ceased to struggle or attempt to escape, in what I can only assume was an attempt to placate my mood. But I didn’t trust him to cease his attempts at freedom, so I bound him once again and carried him instead. After some time, he tried to speak to me. He said he thought he knew a way out, and for lack of any other options I began following his directions. Those directions led us through many sights that I still find astounding, and he did succeed in getting us out of the caverns. I can only ascribe his uncanny direction sense to the Force. Hence, ‘other things’.”

Dirae tried to hide a small, fleeting smile. “Your intuition is correct. Graz is indeed sensitive to the Force, though he will swear on each of the thousand moons of Tu’urall that he is not. It is not a powerful connection, nor has he tried to hone it in any way, but it is still very much there.”

“You hide this knowledge.”

She leaned back in her chair and sighed, shaking her head. “If either the Empire or the Tribunal were to discover he was sensitive to the Force, he would be perceived as an even greater threat than he already is, and would immediately have a price on his head.”

Tarandus nodded. “You know I will keep such information to myself.”

“I do indeed. Please continue.”

“Forgive me for skimming some details,” he murmured, “As some of them are rather… personal. But during our time in the tunnels as he was guiding me, we had a few close brushes with death. I… saved him several times, and once where he even saved me.”

Dirae’s eyebrows shot up. “That would be a first for Graz. He does not normally care if Sith die.”

“Indeed.” He flashed a brief smile. “Initially I had believed it was because I was protecting him while we were down there, and if I died he would have a much lower chance of surviving. And that certainly was his reasoning at the time.”

“But?”

“But… we were down there for nine standard days, Lord Dirae. In such dire situations, one can become rather quickly… attached to those surviving with you.”

Dirae leaned forward, gaze fixed on Tarandus. “And here is the crux of the matter, is it not? You mentioned to me in private when we left Bosthirda that your reasoning for wanting to leave the Tribunal was intensely personal and connected to Graz.” Her stare seemed to bore straight through him. “Have you developed feelings for my brother, Lord Tarandus?”

His eyes dropped to the floor, and he ran a hand down his face. “Unintentionally, yes. And from what I have read of your brother’s emotions, it is… reciprocated, in his way.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “And what way is that?”

“Grudgingly and with much trepidation, and although it would be easier to claim that I developed an attachment to him first, it would be untrue. He is… remarkably forward, when it comes to speaking of how he feels.”

“Mm. I am aware.” She leaned her chin on one hand. “And what of the four remaining days that you were together on Thirion Wol? You said you were nine days in the caverns, yet you were missing for thirteen.”

“Ah… that.” He flinched a little. “Once we were above ground I did not… immediately contact anyone for extraction.”

“Obviously.”

He sighed. “I am acutely aware of how much trouble Graz has caused the Sith, throughout both the Empire and the Tribunal. And violating the sanctity of Thirion Wol is not something many would easily forgive. I feared that an extraction team could attempt to kill him instead of take him into custody once I was rescued. So I stalled for time, trying to think of a better plan.”

Dirae’s milky eyes narrowed. “And your ‘better plan’ was to just… what? Release him? Let him wander the sacred woods of Thirion Wol until Nothus managed to track him down nearly a month later?”

“ _No!”_ Tarandus snarled and stood, sunbursts in his eyes flashing. “I did not _release_ him, Dirae.”

She folded her hands in her lap and stared up at him coolly. “Then tell me what happened.”

“I found him a hiding place. I intended on going with the extraction team and immediately returning with my own ship. It was the only thing I could have done unless I was willing to risk the extraction team taking his life. I was not willing. When I returned for him, he was gone.”

“That should not have surprised you, Tarandus,” she said dryly. “He is not known for being trustworthy.”

“I know.” He heaved a sigh and thumped back into his seat. “But we had learned to trust each other with many things in the thirteen days we were together. Forgive me for not going into detail, but it would be a breach of _his_ trust to elaborate much further. It was a mistake, attempting to hide him. One that I am paying for.”

“Indeed you are.” One corner of her mouth tilted up in a tiny smile. “Suffering this family-bonding excursion goes towards much of your penance, I am sure.”

Tarandus managed a short laugh. “I meant my resignation from the Tribunal, but the levity is appreciated.”

Her smile grew a fraction wider, and she reached forward to rest a hand lightly on one of Tarandus’s own. “Thank you for telling me these details, Tarandus. If what you say is true and my brother has an intimate connection to you because of your time together, then you are indispensable not only for his sake but for my own as well. You know quite well how strained my family relations are. Common ground is not easy to come by. But if you have found a way to understand my brother and he has found a way to understand you, then your mediation would be most welcome and appreciated.”

“Of course. I do not know exactly how _much_ help I can be, but I will do whatever I can to help.”

“Thank you, Tarandus.” She beamed at him and patted his hand before getting to her feet. “If you could take us into hyperspace, I will go release my brother from his stasis and then brief Jedi Zarinne on our flight plan.”

“Yes, my Lord.” He turned to the ship’s console and plugged in a series of coordinates into the navicomputer.

“And Lord Tarandus?”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“Welcome to the family.”

 

* * * * *

 

The door to the last room slid open, and Dirae waved a hand to activate the lights. “And this shall be your quarters, while you are with us. The door locks from the inside, the controls for the lights and the comm are here, and there is a refresher beyond that door in back. I believe that covers things for now. Is there anything you need currently, other than some rest?”

Zarinne shrugged one tentacle. “Nothing I believe you’d be willing to provide. But thank you.”

Dirae tilted her head to one side. “I might be able to be of assistance. It does not hurt to ask.”

She couldn’t help but bark out a short laugh. “The only thing I’m missing are my lightsabers, Lady Sith. Your Darth Belus confiscated them, and I sincerely doubt he will ever return them.”

“Quite probably true.” Dirae quirked up one corner of her mouth. “But I will inquire when we return, if you decide to remain with us.”

Zarinne stepped into the room and made her way over to the viewport, watching the mottled light of hyperspace streak by. “I don’t yet know if I will.”

“Understandable. In the datapad I gave you there is some information on the Tribunal, and also our flight plan. I have highlighted a few key positions where it would be simple to find a spaceport to drop you off, if you should wish to return to the Republic at any point.”

Zarinne turned from the viewport and eyed Dirae quizzically. “I’m still not entirely sure what kind of errand this is, for you.”

Dirae’s smile was wan and bittersweet. “I am sure you have noticed that the relationship between my brother and I is… strained, at best. Our estrangement from each other has caused a plethora of problems, and it has gone on unaddressed long enough. This excursion is intended to give us an opportunity to talk, without having the overwhelming presence of Tribunal politics pressing in on all sides. I will not return to Sith space until we have had some closure, one way or another. Either we leave reunited as family, or we break completely. Either way, honest and open communication has too long been absent.”

“Hm.” Zarinne crossed a few of her tentacles in thought. “I don’t know if I will be of any help to you, in that regard. I know nothing of family life.”

“You do not need to. I do not ask your help with any of this, and I hope that you do not feel any pressure to do so. If you have any insight you wish to share then I certainly would appreciate hearing your voice, but nothing is expected of you while you are aboard my ship.”

“And what about the other Sith?”

“Darth Tarandus?” Dirae’s milky gaze grew softer. “He is here for Graz’s sake. And once the Tribunal’s Enclave is concluded, my Noct will come join us as well.”

Zarinne startled. “Noct? … _Darth_ Noct, the _scourge_ of Argent Legion?”

“…Oh.” Dirae nodded slowly, her head tendrils pooling down closer to her shoulders. “Yes, the very same. They hold a place as Warlord among the members of the Tribunal. We have been wed for six years.”

Zarinne leaned a tentacle on the wall for support, her eyes wide. “Is it… necessary for me to meet them?”

Dirae shook her head. “No. We can arrange a different course of action. My apologies, Jedi Zarinne. They are simply family to me, but I often forget that to others they are intimidating and dangerous. They can return to our home instead of meeting us and await my return there, or until you have taken leave of us here. You need never lay eyes on them.”

Zarinne breathed a sigh of relief. “I think that would be best.” She paused before parting her facial tentacles in a tentative smile. “Thank you.”

Dirae returned Zarinne’s smile. “I should leave you to rest. You have had a difficult time ever since you arrived on Niam’s homeworld. If there is anything at all that I can provide, do not hesitate to ask, Jedi Zarinne.”

“Thank you, again.”

“Of course.” Dirae moved to the threshold and waved open the door.

“Lord Dirae?”

“Yes, Jedi Zarinne?”

“…You can call me just Zarinne, if you want. Or Zar.”

A twinkle came into Dirae’s eyes, and her smile widened as she inclined her head. She slipped out the door, leaving Zarinne to flush orange in self-bemusement.

“This Tribunal brand of Sith is far stranger than any other kind I’ve met...” She stood staring at the door, shaking her head.

 

* * * * *

 

The hatch to the cockpit slid open, and Tarandus glanced up from the star map hologram. His eyes lingered for a long moment before he turned back to his chart. “…Graz.”

“…Hey.”

“I see Lord Dirae pulled you from your stasis. Did she fill you in on what she intends?”

Graz slipped quietly into the copilot’s chair, drawing his knees up to his chest. “Yeah. ‘Family outing’, or whatever. It’s gonna be a long trip.”

“Can we expect you to behave?”

He picked imaginary lint off of the arm of the chair as he chewed on his lower lip. “…Yeah, sure. If the only Sith I have to deal with are you and my sister.”

“That is the plan.”

“Right.” Graz sunk a little further into his seat. “And you’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

Tarandus closed the hologram and swiveled his chair around to face the other man. “Why do you do this, Graz? When I heard that Nothus was the one that found you, I was relieved because I knew you were in good hands. But then I heard that you had escaped once again, when you were in neutral territory on Baras Keron. And then you could have been safe. But you turned right back around to infiltrate Sith space yet again, on Lord Nitere’s homeworld.”

Graz scoffed. “All those artifacts and archaeological finds just sitting around all over the place, and you Sith can think of nothing better to do with them then leave them buried in the ground.”

“I’m not buying it, Graz.” Tarandus narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms as he leaned back to glare down at the other man. “I think we both know that your obsession with relics of the past has nothing to do with why you keep coming back.”  
“Yeah, well, it looks like I _won’t_ be coming back again, now does it? Not after this delightful little ‘bonding experience’ my sister has arranged.”

Tarandus shook his head. “I think that remains up to you, Graz. She wants you in her life, you must know that.”

Graz rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

“…And she is not the only one. I am not here by coincidence. Nor was my presence on Nitere’s homeworld mere happenstance. When I told you I would be there for you when you needed me, I spoke the truth. I have never lied to you.”

Graz curled more tightly in on himself, face falling into a scowl. “Don’t tell me you expect an apology for thinking you did.”

Tarandus blew out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I did not lie to you when I hid you on Thirion Wol.”

“I know that _now,_ but –”

“I told you that I would come back for you.”

“I didn’t think you _would._ I thought you’d left me to die, like a typical Sith.”

“I _thought_ I was saving your life,” Tarandus snapped. “My extraction team would have likely killed you outright for violating the sanctity of Thirion Wol. It is the Tribunal’s most revered of grave worlds. They would not have been inclined toward mercy.”

Graz waved a hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I thought they were gonna land, and I thought you were gonna lead them back to me, so I booked it.”

“But I didn’t. I deliberately told them you had already fled the system. As I _told_ you I would.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t believe you, okay?” Graz huffed and shifted in his seat. “How was I supposed to know you were telling the truth?”

“You learned to trust me well enough in the tunnels.”

“Back when our lives depended on it.”

Tarandus sighed and leaned back in his chair, eyes slipping shut in weariness. “I suppose I had just assumed we found a moment where we had worked a way around each others’ defenses. Dropped our guard.”

Graz rested his chin on his knees and stared out the viewport, falling silent for a long moment. The quiet stretched between them, as strained and warped as the mottled brightness of hyperspace. But Graz finally sighed, and he closed his eyes. “…We did.”

Tarandus looked back over at him, both eyebrows raised. When Graz didn’t elaborate any further, he slowly reached out a hand to Graz’s shoulder, tucking a stray tendril to the side. “You don’t know what to make of it either, do you?”

Graz’s eyes opened, and he cracked Tarandus his characteristic lopsided grin. “Heh. No idea.”

Tarandus returned his grin with a soft smile of his own. “I regret nothing that happened between us.”

“Good. Mysteriously enough, neither do I.”

Tarandus chuckled and shook his head, his hand curling from Graz’s shoulder to the back of his neck. “You are a strange one, Graz Natirune.”

The lopsided smile grew wider. “I’ve been called worse.”

“I’m sure.” Tarandus leaned forward, and with a moment of hesitation, placed a light and gentle kiss on Graz’s lips. “Take it one day at a time?”

Graz reached up to grab Tarandus by the collar of his vest, pulling him in for a deeper and much more heated kiss, grinning wide as he pulled away. “One day at a time.”


End file.
